2 Generations With The Same Philosophy

December 10, 1987|by JOHN JAY FOX, The Morning Call

Dick Schmidt and Tim McGorry may be a generation apart by age, but when comparing coaching philosophies, discussing why they teach the game and explaining how a program is rebuilt, there is no such thing as a communications gap.

The new Bethlehem Catholic basketball coaches are very much alike. Both are products of winning programs. Each took their respective jobs because of the challenge. Neither could pass up the chance to teach and coach.

"I think that one of the most rewarding things a person can do is to teach young people," Schmidt, Becahi's 62-year old basketball coordinator and girl's coach explained. "There is great satisfaction when you teach . . . they go into the world . . . and come back to thank you for what was learned."

McGorry, the 34-year old boy's coach, concurs. "There aren't many things better than teaching. It's very nice to work with young men who want to learn. I'm glad to be coaching a great bunch of kids. They are young men who want to learn and who have given me everything that they have."

Schmidt, who replaced Carol Hudak, worked as an assistant to former men's coach John Melhem last season. He also served as basketball coordinator. A Hall of Fame coach at Dieruff, Schmidt led the Huskies to a 271-100 record. During the 1960s, Dieruff won four straight East Penn Conference titles and twice reached the state eastern finals.

"I think that it is almost like becoming a supervisor," Schmidt said of his return to coaching. "You get away from the classroom and something is lost. To me, the personal contact is very rewarding. I've always enjoyed teaching basketball, and this is a good spot for me to be in.

"I enjoy teaching the girls because I am able to concentrate on the fundamentals," Schmidt said. "You stress the fundamentals, and you see the improvement everyday . . . they are learning by leaps and bounds . . . the immediate improvement gives me a great deal of satisfaction."

Schmidt is also challenged by the East Penn Conference. "This area has some of the finest girls programs in the state as evidenced by the numbers of state titles won by Lehigh Valley schools. As a coordinator, I have been working year round to build our program.

"Last year I concentrated on the boys, this year I want to spend a lot of time with the girls. In the off-season, it wasn't just a matter of working with kids, but of getting youth league and CYO coaches into clinics . . . teaching the finer points of the game, developing the talent at a young age."

How has the coaching been going? "It has been very interesting," he said. "I have five seniors, two juniors and five sophomores. Their morale is very good, but you also have to realize that we are rebuilding this program. We lost every starter from last year, but I think that this team can be competitive," Schmidt said.

"They carry my trademark. They hustle all the time, play very aggressively on defense, and like to break and run an up-tempo game. I've taught a lot of fast breaks, and a lot of presses, and the girls have responded well.

"This was a natural situation for me. To be in this situation - able to help rebuild two programs," Schmidt said.

McGorry, a Central Catholic product, teaches theology at Becahi and served as an assistant to Melhem for two years. Last winter, his JVs went 12-10. A 1971 Central graduate, McGorry played on three PCIAA state runner-up teams under Mike Koury.

"I was at Becahi as an assistant. I was ready for the challenge and I was recommended by Coach Melhem," McGorry said of his appointment. "Dick asked me if I was ready to take the chance and I was," he said.

"It is really ironic. Five years agosomeone asked me what coaching job I would like and I said Bethlehem Catholicmainly because of the challenge of it. I talked to my wife about it and we figured it would be nice to say that I had tried.

"The challenge is to develop a feeling from the CYO level to the grade school level and then at the high school level that it is a good thing to play basketball at Bethlehem Catholic. I want to get people interested in basketball. I'd like to set up clinics and have my high school kids there to develop a relationship with the younger kids," McGorry noted.

"I realized that we graduated the four seniors who were the entire program a year ago. I also knew that there were no returning lettermen. But I wanted to see what I could do. I think that we can be competitive, but the main thing is to work hard as a group. We don't have the players who can control a game, so we have to work as a group to be successful.

"Things have gone well so far because of two things. My coaching staff - Dan Kendra, Glen Brown, Mark Sarmir, Jim Millets and Leo Lichman - have been working very hard and very thoroughly.

"No.2, The kids are very positive and very good. They have responded fantastically and I think that they have developed an inner sense in that they want to prove that Becahi basketball did not vanish with the four seniors from last season," McGorry said.